Combination actuator and counterrecoil damping device for a firearm



Sept 10, 1957 E. M. HARVEY 2,895,695

COMBINATION ACTUATOR AND COUNTERRECOIL DAMPING DEVICE FOR A FIREARM Filed May 14, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l 35 :E'i i A Wmmmm E IN VEN TOR.

Sept 10, 1957 E M. HARVEY 2,805,606

COMBINATION AETUATOR AND COUNTERRECOIL DAMPING DEVICE FOR A FIREARM Filed May 14, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I'L ];E

INV EN TOR.

. HTTUE/VE Y6 p 1957 E M. HARVEY 2,805,606

COMBINATION AOTUATOR AND COUNTERRECOIL DAMPING DEVICE FOR A FIREARM Filed May 14, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

Earle Ml'itmvey @Mfluu- ATTOEA/E Y5 rates i 'tent COMBINATHGN ACTUATGR AND CGUNTER RECOIL DAMPING DEVHCE FOR A FIREARM Earle M. Harvey, Agawan, Mass, assignor to the United States of Americans represented by the Secretary of the Army Application inlay 14, 1954, Serial No. 436,034

dw'Ciaims. (Cl. 83 -191) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to gas operated firearms and particularly to the operating mechanisms thereof.

When automatic gas operated weapons having longitudinally reciprocating breech members provided with separately actuated firing pins are operated from inflexible mounts, the weapons occasionally become inoperative through misfires, though the misfires are rarely experienced when the weapons are fired from flexible mounts.

High-speed photographs reveal that one of the causes of these misfires is that t-hebreech member is away from battery position when the firing mechanism is actuated and, therefore, the firing pin does not contact the primer of the chambered cartridge, or is safetied, when struck. The reason for this is that when the breech member goes from recoil to battery position, it strikes the stopping means therefor with a sharp impact which, if not partially absorbed by flexible mounting means, causes the breech member to bounce back from battery position before the breech member locking means are effective. Whereby, the firing pin is either safetied in retracted position or is not engageable with the primer of the chambered cartridge when engaged for actuation it is not always possible or desirable to provide flexible mounts for firearms so it is important that means be provided therein for damping the counterrecoil stroke of the breech member and thereby prevent rebound from battery position.

It, is, therefore; the object of this invention to provide means'for damping the momentum of the breech member when approaching battery position.

It is another object of this invention to provide for automatic gas operated weapans a device which serves to both act as a;transmitter of recoil force to the breech member and to act as a buffer therefor during counterrecoil.

It is a further object ofthis invention to provide a gas operated firearms an operating rod arranged to reduce the momentum of the breech member through successive impacts imparted thereto.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a, preferredembodiment as shown in the accompanying drawingsin which:

, 511g. 1 is a longitudinal, partially cross-sectional, frag- .mentary view of-a firearm showing the breech member partially displacedfromlbattery position during charging;

Fig. 2 is a continuation of Fig. 1 showing afront portion of the firearm;

Fig. 3.is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the bolt adjacent battery position during recoil;

,Eig. 4 is a view similar to Fig.2,and is a continuation o TF Fig.5 is a view similar to Figs. land 3but showing the bnlt-imbattery position; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 4 and is a continuation of Fig. 5.

Shown in the figures is a rifle having a barrel l2 and a breech mechanism 14 in a receiver 15 for reciprocal longitudinal movement between a recoil and a battery position. Breech mechanism 14 includes a carrier member 16, engageable with a portion 13 of receiver l5 when in battery position, and a bolt 17 mounted therein. Mounted in bolt 17 is a longitudinal firing pin 18 which is arranged to be actuated to fire a chambered cartridge 8 when the breech mechanism 14 is locked in battery position and to be safetied in retracted position by a latch 1% when the breech mechanism is out of battery posi tion, as is more fully described in Patent: No. 2,626,474 to John L. Lochhead.

Mounted to the front portion of barrel 12 is a gas cylinder arranged to receive gases from the bore thereof. Slidably received by gas cylinder 28, for cooperation therewith, is a piston 22 which is threadably mounted to the front end of an operating rod 23 to form an operating rod assembly 9. Provided on operating rod 23 is a smaller diameter portion 24 which extends rearwardly from an annular shoulder 25 to enter receiver 15 for engagement with the front end of carrier 16 when in battery position. Shoulder 25 is arranged to, engage with the surrounding wall of receiver 15 to establish the recoil position of the operating rod assembly 9. The forward position of operating rod assembly 9 is established by the engagement of piston 22 with an annular flange 26 in gas cylinder Operating rod assembly 9 is arranged to travel a shorter distance than breech mechanism 14 which, after being energized by such operating rod assembly, proceeds farther to recoil position. Breech mechanism 14 is returned to battery position by conventional driving springs (not shown) which are compressed during recoil of such breech mechanism.

Extending into operating rod 23 from the front end thereof to a wall 27 is an axial bore 28 and providing communication thereinto is an elongated radial slot 29. Received by bore 28 is a rear coiled compression spring 30, which seats against wall 27, and a similar front spring 31 which seats against the rear end of piston 22. Springs 36 and 31 are spaced apart by a slidable follower member 32 having a circumferential groove 33 intermediate the ends thereof. The assembly of piston 22 to operating rod 23 is arranged to partially compress springs 30 and 31 and, as such springs are similar, follower 32 is approximately centered between wall 27 and the rear end of piston 22.

Extending upwardly from barrel 12 is a lug 34 which extends through slot 29 to be received by groove 33 of follower 32. Whereby, operating rod assembly 9 is secured against rotation and follower 32 is held stationary in respect to barrel 12 but is slidable in bore 28 when operating rod assembly 9 reciprocates. Lug 3 is so disposed on barrel 12 that when springs 5d and 31 are in equilibrium, operating rod assembly 9 is moved to where shoulder 25 is spaced from the engaging portion of receiver 15, as best shown in Fig.1, and the front end of piston 22 is spaced from flange 26, asbest shown in Fig. 2. In effect, operating rod assembly 9, is positioned intermediate the recoil, and the forward limits thereof. Therefore, before carrier 16 goes into battery position, operating rod assembly 9 is struck thereby to be impelled against the resilience of rear spring 30 into engagement with flange 26 for recoil into reengagement with the carrier.

Operation When the-firearm in which thedevice of. this envention is incorporated is to be fired, breech mechanism M is retracted torecoilposition by a charger, handle 55 firearm is fired, breech mechanism 14, under the force of the recoil loaded operating spring (not shown), proceeds forwardly in counterrecoil movement. Before reaching battery position, carrier 16 strikes the rear end of operating rod assembly 9 to transmit part of the momentum of breech mechanism 14 to the operating rod assembly; Consequently, the momentum of the breech mechanism 14 is reduced by the amount of momentum transferred to operating rod assembly 9 and as the mass of the operating rod assembly is considerably less than that of breech mechanism 14, the momentum transferred to such operating rod assembly produces a velocity considerably greater than that transferred from the breech mechanism. Therefore, operating rod assembly 9 is accelerated into impact with flange 26 and is bounced back to strike carrier 16 again before such carrier engages receiver portion 13 for further reduction in the momentum of breech mechanism 14. The recoil of operating rod assembly 9 is aided by rear spring 31, which was loaded by follower 32 during forward movement of the operating rod assembly. Consequently, the

velocity of breech mechanism 14 is considerably reduced before engaging receiver portion 13, to lessen the impact 'thereagainst and thereby assuring that breech mechanism 14 is locked and latch 19 is unlocked when firing pin 18 is actuated for firing the chambered cartridge 8. The gases of the exploded cartridge 8 enter gas cylinder 20 to move operating rod assembly 9 rearwardly against the bias of front spring 31 to accelerate breech mechanism 14 to recoil position. When the pressure of the gases in gas cylinder 20 is dissipated sufiiciently; the superior compression of front spring 31 moves operating rod assembly 9 forwardly until springs 30 and 31 are in equilibrium and the operating rod assembly is in position to again impede the counterrecoil of breechmechanism 14. V

From the foregoing it is clearly'apparent that there is here provided a novel and effective device for reducing the velocity of the firearm bolt when approaching battery position which is positive in operation, rugged in construction and easy and economical to manufacture.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, it is evident that many variations may be devised within the spirit and scope thereof and the following claims are intended to include such variations.

I claim: 1. In a firearm. having a barrel and gas cylinder in communication therewith, the combination of a breech member reciprocable between a battery and a recoil posi tion, a reciprocable operating rod actuable against said breech member by exploded gases bled from the barrel to the gas cylinder for accelerating said breech member to the recoil position, and resilient means fixed to the barrel for resiliently biasing'said operating rod to a position intermediate the limits of travel thereof after accelerating said breech member to recoil position to be struck by said breech member when returning from recoil position for reducing the velocity thereof when going into battery position. 1 v

2. In a firearmhaving a barrel and a gas cylinder in communication therewith, a breech member reciprocable between a battery and a recoil position, an annular flange in the gas cylinder, an operating rod slidably mounted in the gas cylinder for rearward movement against said breech member and forward movement into resilient engagement with said annular flange, said operating rod being actuated by exploded gases bled from the barrel to the gas cylinder against said breech member for acceleration thereof to said recoil position, and a pair of opposing springs anchored to the barrel and biased against said operating rod for positioning said operating rod to a normal position intermediate the forward and rearward positions thereof so as to be struck by said breech memher during movement thereof to said battery position and accelerated thereby into engagement with said flange.

for rebounce into reengagement with said breech memher.

3. In a firearm having a barrel and a gas cylinder in communication therewith, a breech member reciprocable between a battery and a recoil. position and normally biased to the battery position, an annular flange in said gas cylinder, a stud extending radially from the barrel, a follower engaged to the end of said stud, an operating rod slidably mounted to the gas cylinder for rearward movement against said breech member and forward movement into resilient engagement with said annular flange over said follower, said operating'rod'being actuated rearwardly by exploded; gases bled from the barrel to the gas cylinder for accelerating said breech member to the recoil position, and resilient means disposed between said follower and said operating rod for biasing said operating rod after said breech member is actuated thereby to the rel through the gas cylinder to accelerate said breech 7 member to said recoil position, and means for converting said operating rod to a buifer device for reducing the velocity of said breech member when going into. battery position comprising a follower received by a longitudinal bore in said operating rod, means for fixing said follower to the barrel whereby said operating rod is slidable relative to said follower, and a pair of springsm ounted in said bore on opposite sides of said follower and biasing against said operating rod for normally positioning said operating rod intermediate the limits of travel thereof.

5. In a firearm having a barrel and a' gas cylinder in communication therewith, a breech member reciprocable between a battery and a recoil position and normally biased to battery position, an annular flange in'said gas cylinder, an operating rod slidably mounted in the gas cylinder for rearward movement against said breech member and forward movement into resilient engagement with said annular flange, said operating rod being actufollower to seat against said follower and said end walls for biasing said operating rod after said breech member is accelerated thereby to the recoil position to a position to be struck by said breech member when returning to battery position for acceleration against said annular flange and rebounce therefrom into engagementiwith said breech member. 7 I

References Cited in the file of thi's patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,101,862 MacGregor Dec. 14, 1937 2,341,260 Barnes Feb. 8, 1944 2,365,142 Turner Dec. 12,1944 2,451,624

Loomis et al. I Oct/19, 1948 

